Pablo’s Woodlife: Wildlife, Tracking and Bushcraft

If, like me, you’re going to spend another winter tree-dwelling I might have a couple of solutions to that four letter word that might otherwise spoil a great time in the woods… c-o-l-d!

I’m going to be totally lazy and just put up the DD Travel Hammock and DD Tarp reviews as videos.

Don’t forget these haven’t been field tested yet, but all indications are that DDHammocks have gone out of their way to satisfy customer requirements after feedback on previous version of their products; so well done for that. I think these new products deserve a thumbs up for quality, price and flexibility.

Have a look and see what you think.

I’m away for 5 days tracking in Devon so if you leave a question, please be patient until my return or contact DDHammocks direct.

See you soon.

Pablo.

I was after a small, thin, neck knife and stalked around the Wilderness gathering in search of a suitable one. I looked at a couple but they were either too short, too bulky and heavy or just plain too expensive.

On the last day I noticed the Benchmade Snody Activator. It appeared around the right price at £60 so after fiddling about with it for a while decided this was just what I needed.

The handle, made from stabilised Rosewood, is thin (10mm) enough not to bulk out clothing (like my current neck knife) yet large enough to provide a good grip. If you’ve got large paws, then you might not get on with the handle width or length. My little finger just fits on the end of the handle. The handle is slightly rounded,making it feel quite comfortable for such a thin handle and it feels comfortable and warm.

The shape of the blade is very similar to the Bark River PSK in design, although a lot thicker. In fact Mike Snody may well have looked at this design (or the other way round) to create this blade. The blade is drop-point style with full tang and a secondary bevel. I was a little uncertain about the serrated thumb grip at the top of the knife, but even that felt comfortable and, as I’ll explain later, became very useful.

The handle has a forefinger recess which is also very comfortable and doesn’t cut into the finger like so many knives of this design.

As far as I’ve been told, Mike Snody is an American custom knife maker who speciality is combat type knives. This utility design is very popular and he’s obviously franchised it to the manufacturers, Benchmade.

I’ve never had a D2 steel blade before and I don’t really know much about it. I’ll comment on the sharpening capabilities and strength of the steel at a later date, but it is rated 59-61 HRC. Here’s the rest of the stats:

Overall Length (inches): 5.5″
Blade Length: 2.125″
Blade Thickness: 0.140″ = 3.5 mm
Blade Material: D2 Tool Steel Full tang
Blade Hardness: 59-61HRC
Blade Style: Drop-Point Utility
Handle: stabilised Rosewood.
Handle thicknes 10mm
Weight: 2.40oz.

You can forget about the sheath. It’s black, bulky and ugly. In fact I’m not going to darken the doorstep of this upmarket (ahem) site by even putting up a picture of it! Luckily, the Bark River PSK custom leather sheath fits it a treat (cheers American Bushman!) so it’s happily living in there.

I’ve only been on one excursion with it, which was during last weekend’s downpour. As I said in that post I decided to make a fire in the damp after the worst of the rain had cleared.

The Activator duly made some thin shavings from the maya stick showing it was hair popping sharp out of the box. The handle wasn’t in the least slippery despite the wet weather and bare hands. The serrated grip for the thumb proved a god send for control over fine movement.

Additionally, the same serrated edge provided a great way to scrape even finer shavings to make some dust out of the stick. I was even more delighted when, after getting the angle right, I saw sparks fly off the firesteel/knife by using a combination of the back edge of the blade and the serrated thumb grip. I managed to baton a couple of small pieces of wood for the fire, and again, the thickness of the blade withstood this no problem (although it wasn’t a real test of strength.)

I’ve not done any carving with the knife yet, but so far I’m more than happy with this little knife. For an off-the-shelf neck knife, it’s compact, strong and versatile and sits comfortably around my neck without bulking out clothing over the top of it. As usual, I’ll do another review when I’ve used it a bit more.

Thanks for the visit,

Pablo.

Most of us consider that a billy is essential for cooking in the outdoors. The billy of choice is invariably a Zebra billy of some description, although I prefer the Tracpac billy.

Over the last year, I’ve also used a frying pan as I do like my bacon, eggs and beans in the morning. A frying pan is nearly as versatile as a billy. Although of course you can’t hang it over a fire, it’s great for heating up preprepared food and when shallow cooking. A shallow pan tends to heat up food quicker and you can even boil up water at a push. Of course for frying with a little oil it’s unbeatable.

I’ve been using the small frying pan out of a Trangia cookset. It helps to have a non-stick version; in fact I’d say it’s essential. The only disadvantage is that the Trangia version is a little small even for one person.

I’ve seen a few people using a frying pan with a folding handle and after a few enquiries discovered that it’s called a Primus Litech Frying Pan. After parting with £15 to Blacktoe (cheapest online by an average of £4-5 in UK and an excellent service) I received it the other day and took it out on a day’s excursion last weekend.

The first thing that impressed me was the weight. It weighs just 268 grms. The non-stick seems robust enough and I’ve heard that it doesn’t wear off even after heavy use over a number of years. The size is 165mm (base) x 220mm (top) which is certainly a little more generous than the Trangia frying pan. It takes up little room in the rucksack if you pack it vertically at the back of the pack. The depth is 50mm. Perhaps this is a little overkill and half that depth would have done me to be honest, but I can guess it would be a bonus for the more liquid based meals. But at least I can get my beans in there without them spilling over the pan.

The best design feature is the fact that the handle folds under the base of the frying pan as opposed to over the top. This allows you to pack items in the dead space of the frying pan before packing it away in the rucksack. I’ve put a small bag containing spoon, alcohol gel, pepper, olive oil, sauce and a pot gripper in this dead space. The provided netting bag, which could double as a foraging bag, will keep everything together.

To deploy the handle, you unfold it, squeeze it together and fix it into the locating holes. For additional safety, you can lock the handle in position - another nice feature.

Of course, this is a bit of a luxury item if you use it in conjunction with other cooking kit; but it is good addition in my opinion. If you’re still in doubt, think of this - if you’re using a crusader cup for boiling up water, you might not even need to take your billy with you. This might save a bit of weight and will certainly save some space.

Pablo.

I’ve been laid up with some kind of virus for the last few days, so it was good to get out for a few hours today.

My main mission was to try out some new kit. (That’s what happens when you’re bored at home with only a laptop for company).

First on the test rig was a new tarp. I purchased this from www.genuinearmysurplus.co.uk. Excellent service and only a fraction of the price Mr Mears sells the same ones for at £40. Size wise, it’s exactly the same as my small tarp 2.75m x 1.75m but it is much more flexible with extra ties, poppers and eyelets and of course it’s in Auscam.

I’ve had this Jaavenpaa leuku and puuku set for a few weeks now. I love the sheath system but the jury’s still out with regard to the stainless steel 7in leuko. I’ll do a full review soon, but I think I’ll try and get a carbon version of the leuko at least. There’s already a little dink in the blade and that’s with what I consider normal use.

 

I couldn’t resist this bargain gas burner from the local surplus shop. I’ve seen smaller but for £10 you can’t go wrong. Am I going hi-tech? Well, I couldn’t help being impressed with the speed and cleanliness of the system (I’ve never used a gas burner at all); and of course the ability to vary the flame. I’m not going to ditch the bushbuddy yet though.

While in the surplus shop I picked up some black goretex high leg boots almost brand new for £35. Ideal for next winter. I also picked up two German army shirts for £10. These will be nice and cool but robust for the summer and one of them will be ideal for tracking being flektarn camo (who’s that handsome bloke modelling it?)

No wander in the woods would be complete without the usual sighting of a fox cub or kits as they are sometines called (well, these days it seems to be true). Today was no exception. This little fella was wandering about on his own. Despite following him for a while, I couldn’t locate the earth but it couldn’t have been too far away. Looks like this will be one for another day. I was just content that despite many fox sightings in my little patch, I now know there must be a den as well.

Thanks for the visit.

Pablo.

This review is a little lengthy, so I’ve also put it on the kit page in case you want to view it at a later date.

It would be easy to make this a hammock versus bivi bag review, but really these are two different ways of sleeping in the outdoors. So I’ll attempt to confine this to reviewing the bivi bag itself.

As the name implies, a bivi bag is designed as a shelter and to encompass a sleeping bag which will lay straight on the ground. Ideally it should protect the sleeping bag from the rising damp of the ground and be waterproof enough to protect the occupant from the elements. Basically it’s a single person lightweight shelter falling short of an actual tent.

There are a few bivi bags around but the most popular is the ex-Brit army goretex version; a bag I have used on a number of previous occasions. These are certainly waterproof but you pay for it in weight. The other disadvantage is that most bivi bags leave the head exposed. So is the Snagpak bivi bag an improvement on this system?

The bivi bag comes in its own compression stuff sack, which is a good start. There are two lightweight alluminium poles which collapse into 8 inch lengths. There’s also a bag of the sturdiest tent pegs I’ve ever seen (and the heaviest!) They went straight into the great tent peg repository in the sky to be replaced by my normal alluminium pegs.

Setting up the bag couln’t be easier. Thread the poles through the sleeves at the head end of the bag and secure the ends in the holes in the loops provided (a la tent). These loops can then be pegged down. Before you ask, yes it is necessary to peg at least two poles down (one at each side) or the hood part moves about too much and becomes a pain.

It’s also a good idea to peg out the other foot end of the bag with one peg in the provided loop. This make a minimum of three extra pegs you must carry about (or make).

The obvious difference between this and a normal bivi bag is that you now have a raised, supported or framed hood at the head end, which you can only really appreciate once you’re inside the bag. It’s really a self supporting canopy, which can be enclosed, covering your head and shoulders.

Unless you have a very large head there’s surprisingly a lot of space in this area and you can share this space with a couple of small items that you might want to keep dry. I put my hygiene pack in there, spare socks, and Swanni shirt. You certainly have no room to cook (that would be a little dangerous as well) but there’s space enough inside to read a book, nibble on some trail food and listen to the rain.

There’s a nice little touch inside of the roof of the hood where Snugpak have sewn in a piece of zipped, square, white netting. This is ideal for storing your head torch, providing your light and for stroing any loose items from your pockets.

The other mesh vent is at the front of the face if you were laying face up in the bag. Left unattended it would just dangle down in at about chest level, but you have the option of rolling it up or zipping it to the outer material of the bivi bag. This second option encloses you completely yet allows a good deal of ventilation through the hood. I slept like this most of the weekend and there was no sign of condensation in the bag at all.

The alternative to zipping the netting up is to completely zip up and enclose the front or top of the bag in the outer material. I found this very clausterphobic, but if you are used to small tents, it’s probably no worse than that. What it does do is completely keep out wind and rain. It also very quickly increases the temperature inside the bag and as long as the end vent is fully open, there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of condensation as a result of this operation, but I didn’t try this out for long.

The material fabric top is 40D Nylon Ripstop, which is waterproof and moisture permeable: The bottom fabric is 70D Nylon Taffeta with PU Coating. The overall size (when erect): 90” x 37” x 42”: Packed size 14″ x 4″ x 6″ inches and the weight is 1.4KG or around 46 ounces (including original pegs) (all this paragraph from the official blurb).

The size of the bag isn’t a great issue and should be long enough to fit most folk. Width may be a problem for larger people and Unlike the ex-military bivi bag which has ample space inside, I’m not sure whether you would be able to stuff a large rucksack at the bottom of the bag in order to keep it dry. Perhaps a small one.

I haven’t tested fully how waterproof the whole bag is, as on my intial excursion with the Stratosphere, I also had a tarp, but I can say that the damp ground didn’t ingress into the bottom of the bag at all. I’m not sure whether it would stand up to a full onslaught when open to the elements, but other reviewers have stated that they had no problems even in foul weather on open ground.

The nearest rival to this bag has is the Highlander Falcon, which is similarly styled. They’re about the same price and roughly made out of the same material. The Falcon though has the vent at the top of the hood.

The Stratosphere ranges between £75-£90 (March 2008 prices).

All in all I’m quite impressed with the bag as a ground dwelling shelter. It will keep damp off and certainly makes for a cosy and warm environment once you’re inside the bag. It is a litle vision restrictive - but then, I suppose you don’t have to deploy the hood.

In summer it will keep the mossies and midges at bay while providing good ventilation and you should be able to use it without tarp. Add a Thermarest and you should have a relatively comfortable nights kip (if you’re a ground-dwelling that is).

Pablo.